19,669 research outputs found
Gamification in E-Learning: game factors to strengthen specific English pronunciation features in undergraduate students at UPTC Sogamoso
Appendix A Characterization survey (104), Appendix B. EFL Students’ questionnaire (109), Appendix C. Characterization survey: data treatment question (113), Appendix D. Informed consent letter, English version (114), Appendix E. Carta de consentimiento informado, versión en español (117), Appendix F. Time Schedule (120), Appendix G. Sample Challenges at Moodle (126), Appendix H. Participants’ questionnaire results (128).La gamificación es un término que suele denotar el uso de componentes del juego en situaciones no relacionadas con el juego en sí para crear experiencias de aprendizaje agradables, divertidas y motivadoras para los estudiantes (Werbach y Hunter, 2012). Por lo tanto, el análisis de los factores básicos de los juegos se convierte en algo esencial a la hora de definir y utilizar la gamificación como estrategia de mediación del inglés como lengua extranjera para fortalecer rasgos específicos de pronunciación en los estudiantes de pregrado de la UPTC Sogamoso.
El procedimiento de estudio se basa en la investigación acción mediante la implementación de la estrategia de gamificación para la mediación en la pronunciación del inglés, orientada a treinta estudiantes de diferentes programas de ingeniería, administración y tecnología con niveles heterogéneos de dominio del inglés. Las actividades se centran principalmente en la producción de sonidos, el ritmo, el acento y la entonación, los rasgos de pronunciación segmental y suprasegmental.
Los resultados arrojaron una evidente mejora en las características segméntales y suprasegmentales de la percepción en la pronunciación de los participantes así como la contribución del objetivo de los juegos a la instrucción fonética y fonológica, la sensación en el juego a la motivación para mejorar la pronunciación, el reto establecido en los juegos a la actitud positiva de los participantes, y la sociabilidad a la exposición practica de la pronunciación inglesa.Gamification is a relatively new term that often denotes the use of game components in situations unrelated to the game itself to create enjoyable, fun, and motivating learning experiences for students (Werbach and Hunter, 2012). Therefore, analyzing the games' basic factors becomes essential when defining and using gamification as a strategy for English as Foreign Language mediation to strengthen specific pronunciation features in UPTC Sogamoso undergraduate students.
The study procedure is based on action research by implementing the gamification strategy for mediation in English pronunciation, oriented to thirty students from different engineering, management, and technology programs at heterogeneous levels of English proficiency. The activities mainly focus on sound production, rhythm, stress, and intonation, segmental and suprasegmental pronunciation features.
The results showed an evident improvement in the segmental and suprasegmental features of the participants' pronunciation perception as well as the contribution of game goals to phonetics and phonological instruction, the game sensation to the motivation for pronunciation improvement, the game challenge to the participants' positive attitude, and the sociality to the English pronunciation exposure practice
Identification of Hindbrain Neural Substrates for Motor Initiation in the hatchling Xenopus laevis Tadpole
Animal survival profoundly depends on the ability to detect stimuli in the environment, process them and respond accordingly. In this respect, motor responses to a sensory stimulation evolved into a variety of coordinated movements, which involve the control of brain centres over spinal locomotor circuits. The hatchling Xenopus tadpole, even in its embryonic stage, is able to detect external sensory information and to swim away if the stimulus is considered noxious. To do so, the tadpole relies on well-known ascending sensory pathway, which carries the sensory information to the brain. When the stimulus is strong enough, descending interneurons are activated, leading to the excitation of spinal CPG neurons, which causes the undulatory movement of swimming. However, the activation of descending interneurons that marks the initiation of motor response appears after a long delay from the sensory stimulation. Furthermore, the long-latency response is variable in time, as observed in the slow-summating excitation measured in descending interneurons. These two features, i.e. long-latency and variability, cannot be explained by the firing time and pattern of the ascending sensory pathway of the Xenopus tadpole. Therefore, a novel neuronal population has been proposed to lie in the hindbrain of the tadpole, and being able to 'hold' the sensory information, thus accounting for the long and variable delay of swim initiation. In this work, the role of the hindbrain in the maintenance of the long and variable response to trunk skin stimulation is investigated in the Xenopustadpole at developmental stage 37/38. A multifaceted approach has been used to unravel the neuronal mechanisms underlying the delayed motor response, including behavioural experiments, electrophysiology analysis of fictive swimming, hindbrain extracellular recordings and imaging experiments. Two novel neuronal populations have been identified in the tadpole's hindbrain, which exhibit activation patterns compatible with the role of delaying the excitation of the spinal locomotor circuit. Future work on cellular properties and synaptic connections of these newly discovered populations might shed light on the mechanism of descending control active at embryonic stage. Identifying supraspinal neuronal populations in an embryonic organism could aid in understanding mechanisms of descending motor control in more complex vertebrates
Strung pieces: on the aesthetics of television fiction series
As layered and long works, television fiction series have aesthetic properties that are built over time, bit by bit. This thesis develops a group of concepts that enable the study of these properties, It argues that a series is made of strung pieces, a system of related elements. The text begins by considering this sequential form within the fields of film and television. This opening chapter defines the object and methodology of research, arguing for a non-essentialist distinction between cinema and television and against the adequacy of textual and contextual analyses as approaches to the aesthetics of these shows. It proposes instead that these programmes should be described as televisual works that can be scrutinised through aesthetic analysis. The next chapters propose a sequence of interrelated concepts. The second chapter contends that series are composed of building blocks that can be either units into which series are divided or motifs that unify series and are dispersed across their pans. These blocks are patterned according to four kinds of relations or principles of composition. Repetition and variation are treated in tandem in the third chapter because of their close connection, given that variation emerges from established repetition. Exception and progression are also discussed together in the fourth chapter since they both require a long view of these serial works. The former, in order to be recognised as a deviation from the patterns of repetition and variation. The latter, In order to be understood in Its many dimensions as the series advances. Each of these concepts is further detailed with additional distinctions between types of units, motifs, repetitions, variations, and exceptions, using illustrative examples from numerous shows. In contrast, the section on progression uses a single series as case study, Carnivàle (2003-05), because this is the overarching principle that encompasses all the others. The conclusion considers the findings of the research and suggests avenues for their application
Working in ministries or public organizations in Saudi Arabia : A study of career development and job satisfaction of the Saudi Arabian middle managers
Career development and job satisfaction studies carried out in developing countries are very limited in number. Saudi Arabia is one of those developing countries which appeared on the political scene quite recently, but striving hard to develop its human resources due to its heavy dependence on expatriate labour to initiate and execute its development plans. The genesis of the study began when General Civil Service Bureau officials noticed a large movement of employees from ministries to other sectors (i.e. public organizations and the private sector). The purpose of this dissertation is to examine and analyze the factors behind this movement and relate this to the studies of career development and job satisfaction. The position of government organizations in Saudi Arabia is rather unique. Most of their employees are drawn from Universities due to the regulations of the GCSB of compelling them to work in ministries for a period equivalent to that spent in their University education until graduation. This situation has prevented such graduates from choosing their own occupations and seem to hinder their career development. As a consequence, this study, not only analyzes career development and job satisfaction in Saudi Arabia, but (v) job satisfaction in Saudi Arabia, but also makes a comprehensive evaluation of economic, social and organisational environments which seem to have an effect of the occupational choice of the Saudis. We take the assumption that the ideology of free occupational choice is not properly applied in Saudi Arabia due to some cultural variables (e.g. nepotism and strong family ties). Hence, this thesis will develop a definition of the concept of occupational choice and career development and the process of personnel flow and the ways in which such movement can be influenced within the Saudi context. The study will be primarily concerned with middle managers in two types of organization - government ministries and public organizations. This will hopefully give a profile of the Saudi situation as far as occupational choice, career development and job satisfaction are concerned
Towards the development of care management in community care for elderly people in Korea
This study is concerned with the feasibility of several forms of care management in the development of community care for elderly people in Korea. Chapter one introduces the background of community care in Korea in the light of demographic, socio-economic, and political realities. This chapter reviews the changing Korean society as a barometer to understand the scope, size, and speed of social needs, especially community care for elderly people, over the last few decades. Chapter two explores various definitions, concepts, and theories of community, community care, and care management by building upon trends previously established in the research. This helps to identify the different models of care management and the pre-conditions necessary for the application of different models in Korea. Chapter three explores what factors have affected the development of community care, and what community dare has achieved for elderly people in the UK. Especially, care management in community care for elderly people in the UK is examined in detail. Chapter four details the findings of field research on community care for elderly people in Korea. This covers the needs of elderly people and their carers, and the social worker's tasks and available resources. The potential for the use of care management based on the findings of field research is assessed. Chapter five investigates whether the UK models of care management are suitable for Korean society, which interventions are useful for developing care management, and the strategies, and principles involved
Investigating the potential role for RBMY in cancer
Introduction: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), is a major healthcare concern with a high male prevalence. We hypothesise that the testis specific mRNA splicing regulator, Y-linked RBMY gene, is aberrantly expressed in HNSCC in part promoting HNSCC through ZFY-short splicing. RBMY has been shown to enhance tumour development in male hepatocellular carcinoma (human tissue specimens and transgenic-mouse models) whilst ZFY-short is predicted to have anti-apoptotic properties and the deletion of RBMY locus on Y-chromosome resulted in lowered ZFY-short expression. Thus, we hypothesize that ZFY-short is generated by RBMY and exerts its anti-apoptotic effects to promote male HNSCC. Methods: Due to the coronavirus lockdown, bench work was restricted to 6 months, therefore, I conducted an extended analysis of RBMY expression in human cancer, including a computational analysis of RBMY gene expression with data from the cBioPortal database. In my bench-work, I attempted to establish GFP- RBMY expressing cell lines and conducted fluorescence microscopy, RT- PCR and qPCR to analyse RBMY expression in HNSCC cell lines and its impact on ZFY-short expression. Results: RBMY is expressed in several cancers, with no driver mutations. RBMY has nuclear localisation and is expressed in 93-UV-147T and UM-SCC-104 cell lines (both HPV16-positive HNSCC cell lines), with increased ZFY-short expression observed in UM- SCC-104. Discussion: Despite RBMY having been shown to be an oncogene in male liver cancer, our analysis of cBioPortal data suggests this activity may be restricted to the small minority of tumours of different cancer types that express RBMY. The paralleled expression of RBMY and ZFY-short in our cell lines indicate an association. UMSCC104 cell line originates from a highly an aggressive and recurrent tumour, RBMY is associated with tumour stemness, thus it is possible that via ZFY-short, RBMY could have promoted the aggressive phenotype in this, and in other HNSCCs
In search of 'The people of La Manche': A comparative study of funerary practices in the Transmanche region during the late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (250BC-1500BC)
This research project sets out to discover whether archaeological evidence dating between 2500 BC - 1500 BC from supposed funerary contexts in Kent, flanders and north-eastern Transmanche France is sufficient to make valid comparisons between social and cultural structures on either side of the short-sea Channel region. Evidence from the beginning of the period primarily comes in the form of the widespread Beaker phenomenon. Chapter 5 shows that this class of data is abundant in Kent but quite sparse in the Continental zones - most probably because it has not survived well. This problem also affects the human depositional evidence catalogued in Chapter 6, particularly in Fanders but also in north-eastern Transmanche France. This constricts comparative analysis, however, the abundant data from Kent means that general trends are still discernible. The quality and volume of data relating to the distribution, location, morphology and use of circular monuments in all three zones is far better - as demonstrated in Chapter 7 -mostly due to extensive aerial surveying over several decades. When the datasets are taken as a whole, it becomes possible to successfully apply various forms of comparative analyses. Most remarkably, this has revealed that some monuments apparently have encoded within them a sophisticated and potentially symbolically charged geometric shape. This, along with other less contentious evidence, demonstrates a level of conformity that strongly suggests a stratum of cultural homogeneity existed throughout the Transmanche region during the period 2500 BC - 1500 BC. The fact that such changes as are apparent seem to have developed simultaneously in each of the zones adds additional weight to the theory that contact throughout the Transmanche region was endemic. Even so, it may not have been continuous; there may actually have been times of relative isolation - the data is simply too course to eliminate such a possibility
Redistribution Policy and Social Welfare: A View from Macroeconomics
Este trabajo evalúa los efectos de políticas redistributivas sobre los resultados macroeconómicos, la distribución del ingreso y el bienestar utilizando tres criterios de bienestar social (el de Pareto, el de Rawls y uno mixto), y establece el vínculo entre lo anterior y la política óptima del gobernante. Las principales conclusiones son: 1) un efecto negativo de la redistribución a través de impuestos y subsidios es el aumento de la tasa de interés; 2) a medida que una sociedad avanza en el proceso de redistribución, llega el momento en que el gobernante se enfrenta a un dilema:
mantener este proceso o evitar pérdidas en el bienestar social.This paper evaluates the effects of redistribution policies on macroeconomic performance, income distribution and social welfare using three alternative social welfare criteria (Pareto's, Rawls' and a mixed one), and establishes the link between the above and the ruler's optimal policy. The main conclusions are the following: 1) a negative effect of redistribution through taxation and subsidies is the increase in the interest rate; 2) as a society advances in the process of wealth redistribution, there comes a time when the ruler faces a trade-off: to maintain this process or to avoid losses in social welfare
Studies on the insecticidal mechanism of Bacillus thuringiensis Vip3A and Cry proteins
El control de plagas y patógenos ha tenido un efecto importante en la mejora del rendimiento de los sistemas agrícolas a nivel mundial. Diferentes tipos de insecticidas químicos se han usado extensivamente durante mucho tiempo para el control de plagas de insectos. Debido a la aparición de resistencias, problemas de contaminación de aguas y problemas de salud humana causados por dichos insecticidas de síntesis, la agricultura moderna necesita una estrategia de gestión integrada de plagas más saludable, respetuosa con el medio ambiente y sostenible. El uso de Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) y sus proteínas insecticidas para el control de plagas es una de las estrategias biotecnológicas más importantes hasta la fecha. Además, los genes que codifican sus proteínas insecticidas han sido transferidos a plantas, las cuales están siendo utilizadas comercialmente, desde 1996 en gran parte del mundo para el control eficiente de numerosas plagas de insectos. En los últimos años, una nueva subclase de proteínas insecticidas secretables (Vip3) producida durante el crecimiento vegetativo de Bt se ha considerado para la aplicación combinada con las convencionalmente empleadas proteínas Cry, cuya aplicación se ve amenazada por la aparición de poblaciones de insectos resistentes. Las proteínas Vip3 no tienen homología de secuencia con las proteínas Cry y son tóxicas para insectos lepidópteros, sin embargo, su modo de acción todavía no se conoce completamente. En este proyecto de tesis, con el objetivo de mejorar su aplicación en el control biotecnológico de plagas y la comprensión del modo de acción de las proteínas Vip3, se estudiaron diversos aspectos de su actividad insecticida (espectro de acción, resistencia cruzada e interacción con otras proteínas), y se realizó un estudio de los residuos clave para el mantenimiento de la estructura tridimensional y la toxicidad de la proteína Vip3Af mediante mutagénesis dirigida. También analizamos la posible implicación de la unión a receptores en la aparición de resistencia utilizando una cepa resistente que había sido seleccionada con Vip3Aa. En primer lugar, se investigó la toxicidad de 10 toxinas Bt (Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, Cry1Ah, Cry1Fa, Cry2Aa, Cry2b, Cry1Ie, Vip3Aa19, Vip3Aa16 y Vip3Ca) frente a Mythimna separata (plaga agrícola muy destructiva en Asia y Australia), así como su aplicación combinada mediante bioensayos llevados a cabo en laboratorio. Los resultados mostraron que la concentración letal media LC50 (Cry1Ac/Vip3Aa19/Vip3Ca 3061 veces) se obtuvo rápidamente después de 8 o 9 generaciones de selección en laboratorio. Sin embargo, no se obtuvo resistencia notable seleccionando con Cry1Ab o Cry1F en la misma población y durante el mismo número de generaciones. En un estudio realizado por otros investigadores, también se encontró una respuesta rápida similar a la selección de Vip3Aa en H. virescens, alcanzando un nivel de resistencia > 2300 veces mayor en la décima generación. Es importante hacer notar que esta rápida evolución de la selección en condiciones de laboratorio contrasta con los resultados obtenidos con las proteínas Cry1, tanto en nuestro trabajo como por otros autores: una la población de O. furnacalis adquirió un nivel de resistencia a Cry1Ab de alrededor de 100 veces sólo después de 35 generaciones de selección; de manera similar, una población de O. nubilalis desarrolló una resistencia de más de 3000 veces a Cry1F después de 35 generaciones de selección. Esta diferencia en respuesta a la selección, además de reflejar una frecuencia mucho mayor de alelos de resistencia para Vip3Aa, puede sugerir diferencias en los mecanismos de resistencia a las proteínas Vip3Aa y Cry1, lo cual queda en evidencia cuando se estudia la unión de Vip3A a BBMV de insectos resistentes El análisis de la unión de 125I-Vip3Aa a BBMV de larvas de M. separata tanto de insectos susceptibles y resistentes no reveló ninguna diferencia de unión, ya sea cualitativa o cuantitativa. Los resultados sugieren que la unión alterada a los receptores de la membrana del intestino medio no es el principal mecanismo de resistencia a la proteína Vip3Aa. Numerosos estudios han demostrado que la alteración de los receptores de membrana es un mecanismo evolutivo común que confiere altos niveles de resistencia a las proteínas Cry, pero nunca se ha establecido su relación con la resistencia a Vip3A. Las diferencias de unión cualitativas o c
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